We're addressing this problem at Care Thread (http://www.carethread.com), where we integrate patient-centered messaging and EMR data to ensure that everyone stays in the loop.

Existing electronic medical records systems are at their best for long-term documentation, and fall short on keeping care providers abreast of ever-changing plans across shift transitions. Pagers and phones, which doctors and nurses use instead for real-time communication, fare even worse. The information is simply invisible to the next person who takes over.

We've had terrific, sustained adoption where Care Thread's system is deployed, and are working to measure the effect on patient outcomes. Some study results are pending (from Partners / Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, where researchers put iPads in the hands of patients and used our mobile messaging system to help keep care providers aligned with each other and with patients).